I had such a busy June that i barely had time to stop and smell the peonies, my absolute favorite flower.

Our peony bushes seemed to burst into bloom all in one day. Unfortunately i wasn’t home much and wish i could have enjoyed them more. June is my second favorite month of the year because i can fill the house with fresh peonies from my own garden. But i make sure to grab a camera and capture the beauty before picking them. Picking up the camera and spending one or two minutes taking photos in the garden (or flowers from the flower shop) is one of the least expensive ways to create instant, original art. I order prints on-line which is much less expensive than buying my own photo paper and colour ink cartridges, and they’re ready next day on photo paper, canvas, greeting cards or post cards. The image above will look stunning mounted in a simple white, black or silver frame,,,or transfered onto an oversized canvas. I’ve got mutiple shots so if I want to hang a series, i’ve got lots of options in black & white or colour. I’m still deciding what to do with this one......

I fill the house with flowers and greenery, all year long. I tend to use a lot of branches and oversized leaves because they’re dramatic, organic, inexpensive and last a long time and nothing could be simpler to arrange. I have a collection of vases in all shapes and sizes, which allows me to create tall upright arrangements, low tight arrangements or full bouquets that burst out in all directions.

After taking a few photos, I pulled out an assortment of vases and filled the house with peonies.

On a side table in the living room.

In a vintage mason jar in the foyer. Nothing beats the simple beauty of peonies in a mason jar. This particular jar is vintage 1944, and i love that embossed on the front is a crown and the words made in Canada. Sometimes i remove all the leaves from the stems,,,,sometimes,,I don’t!

On the fireplace mantle, a single bloom in a low profile rectangular vase. What could be simpler? It think its a modern way to display a very traditional looking flower.

These branches of greenery are off of a vine-like weed that grows like crazy in our backyard.

In an Alvar Aalto crystal vase, on the meeting table in my studio.

And nothing is more dramatic than blooms or leaves in a tall cylindrical vase, this one is about 20” tall and sitting on the credenza in my studio.

After filling the house with peonies, there were loads more still in the garden......so I took some to a clients last week where i was doing a photo shoot and used them in the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms. (More on that project in future posts)...